C# Winforms Application Button Event for Method in Another Class

Question

My problem is that I have a button in a winforms application that I would like to create a hover effect for. I have already achieved this effect by selecting this button, moving to the properties pane, selecting the Events, and double clicking the MouseEnter Event. This automatically creates a method in the c# code, and I can go into that method change the background color, no problem. I use a similar process for the MouseLeave Event and change the color back. This I know how to do.

Since each user control also has many buttons on it, I've been able to create generic methods (like below), and reuse these methods for each button within the user control. This is easy to select a method with the appropriate signature from the properties under events. I can find it in the dropdown next to the method. However, I have many user controls which have buttons on them, so these 2 methods are repeated in every single class.

What I've done to attempt to clean this up, is create a little static class. Then I can go into the designer (after building) and this works 100%. This not only reduces redundant code but also allows for a style change if ever the hover color needed to change, without modifying each code behind. However, if I were ever to make a modification the the user control, my reference to the method in the designer gets wiped out by the designer. The line of code just disappears.

Everything I read says "don't change the designer" for this exact reason. However, the visual studio user interface does not allow me a way to reference a method in an outside class. Any advice would be much appreciated.

    private void Mouse_Enter(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        Button btn = (Button)sender;
        if (btn.Enabled == true) btn.BackColor = Color.LightGray;
    }
    private void Mouse_Leave(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        Button btn = (Button)sender;
        if (btn.Enabled == true) btn.BackColor = Color.White;
    }


 public static class ButtonHelper
 {
     public static void Mouse_Enter(object sender, EventArgs e)
     {
         Button btn = (Button)sender;
         if (btn.Enabled == true) btn.BackColor = Color.LightGray;
     }
 
     public static void Mouse_Leave(object sender, EventArgs e)
     {
         Button btn = (Button)sender;
         if (btn.Enabled == true) btn.BackColor = Color.White;
     }

designer

this.btnEdit.UseVisualStyleBackColor = false;
            this.btnEdit.Click += new System.EventHandler(this.btnEdit_Click);
            this.btnEdit.MouseEnter += new System.EventHandler(ButtonHelper.Mouse_Enter);
            this.btnEdit.MouseLeave += new System.EventHandler(this.Mouse_Leave);

Yep, don't do that. If you have to, then you need to manually add the event handlers (i.e., move the .MouseXXXX += lines out of the .designer file and to the UserControl's constructor or something. However, a better way would be to create a custom button (one that inherits Button), then override both OnEnter and OnLeave methods to add your highlighting logic. That way, you don't have to handle the Enter and Leave events for each button individually. You could also expose properties to allow customizing the highlight color through the designer. — 41686d6564
– 41686d6564, Commented Jan 7, 2022 at 18:38
PS. I do realize that I could put the changes that I was attempting to apply to the designer in the standard c# code behind, and I get most of the benefit of reusability. It's just not quite as ideal since the method would not be listed under the properties pane for the button, and there would be form events for the button in 2 different places. Not the end of the world. — Vitor Estories
– Vitor Estories, Commented Jan 7, 2022 at 18:40
Perfect 41686d6564. I will do that. This solves my problems and concerns for sure. Thanks for the info! — Vitor Estories
– Vitor Estories, Commented Jan 7, 2022 at 18:42

Vitor Estories · Accepted Answer · 2022-01-07 19:55:26Z

1

Here is the updated code based on the advice by 41686d6564

public class HoverButton:Button
    {
    
    protected override void OnMouseEnter(EventArgs e)
    {
        if (Enabled == true) BackColor = Color.LightGray;
        base.OnMouseEnter(e);
    }
    protected override void OnMouseLeave(EventArgs e)
    {
        if (Enabled == true) BackColor = Color.White;
        base.OnMouseLeave(e);
    }
    protected override void OnEnabledChanged(EventArgs e)
    {
        if (Enabled)
        {
            ForeColor = System.Drawing.Color.FromArgb(((int)(((byte)(0)))), ((int)(((byte)(22)))), ((int)(((byte)(137)))));
            BackColor = Color.White;
        }
        else
        {
            ForeColor = Color.Gray;
            BackColor = Color.LightGray;
        }
        base.OnEnabledChanged(e);
    }
}

answered Jan 7, 2022 at 19:55

Vitor Estories

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